When Ditto copies a Pokemon, it also copies any stat changes that it has as well. This is particularly useful in a metagame where it can copy a Xerneass who has boosted with Geomancy. It's also important to note that Ditto will always copy the Pokemon directly across from it in battle.

It's not amazing, but it can certainly make your opponent rethink setting up if you have one of your team.

So it's a team for the current VGC19 format. It seems to have 2 main modes to it, a trick room mode where you're trying to get Groudon in to spam big P Blades, potentially under Gravity, and a faster I guess "take out the steels a win with Xerneas" mode. In terms of items, Iron Ball Groudon seems kind of rogue but it would guarantee you underspeed opposing min speed Groudon/Ogre, as well as a lot of mons in general like Bronzong and Amoonguss, not quite underspeeding Ferrothorn or Stakataka. Goggles on Incineroar prevents rage powders and spores, the former mostly from Amoonguss, but in case you ever play them other users are Jumpluff, Volcarona and Parasect, and the latter from again mostly Amoonguss and some Smeargle (though many are opting for Lovely kiss to get around goggles and to sleep grass types). Redirecting rage powders is nice to prevent your opponent from clicking Rage Powder + Geomancy with their Amoonguss + Xerneas and being confident that any Roars will be redirected away. Red Card Fini is there seemingly as a last ditch effort to get rid of Xerneas after it has set up.

Basically it's a sample team for a pretty standard archetype. It's meant for you to use, see what you like, see what you dislike, learn the format, play around with, look at what other people are using and try to see why.

What i'd like to know is a little more about some of the more specific IV spreads, and more importantly any tips for specific matchups. I've tried to just jump in and see what happens and i haven't had as much success as i thought i would. Knowing my mindset, I suspect my biggest weakness is bringing the wrong tools for the job.

Very much looking forward to any input anyone more experienced can provide - there aren't many other communities i would listen to with this information!

What i'd like to know is a little more about some of the more specific IV spreads, and more importantly any tips for specific matchups. I've tried to just jump in and see what happens and i haven't had as much success as i thought i would. Knowing my mindset, I suspect my biggest weakness is bringing the wrong tools for the job.

Very much looking forward to any input anyone more experienced can provide - there aren't many other communities i would listen to with this information!

Thanks for the info! I dug into this a little bit and the same is true for Heatran to an extent. There isn't a lot Ho-Oh can do to it outside of Earthquake. If it runs Earthquake it will lose some of the valuable utility it gets from Recover/Substitute/Protect/Tailwind etc.

Are there any other threats of note that it beats with Earthquake? the odds of running into a Ho-Oh specced to deal with Heatran specifically seems very low at best. Thoughts that come to mind:

- Misc Steel Types are smacked harder by Sacred Fire, save for Stakataka and Dialga i guess. It has no business staying in on either of those though.
- Incineroar is easily a bigger threat than any other fire Type so would assume the rest of the team comp has answers to it
- It risks taking a chunk of damage if it stays in on Koko

dumb egg

Thanks for the info! I dug into this a little bit and the same is true for Heatran to an extent. There isn't a lot Ho-Oh can do to it outside of Earthquake. If it runs Earthquake it will lose some of the valuable utility it gets from Recover/Substitute/Protect/Tailwind etc.

Are there any other threats of note that it beats with Earthquake? the odds of running into a Ho-Oh specced to deal with Heatran specifically seems very low at best. Thoughts that come to mind:

- Misc Steel Types are smacked harder by Sacred Fire, save for Stakataka and Dialga i guess. It has no business staying in on either of those though.
- Incineroar is easily a bigger threat than any other fire Type so would assume the rest of the team comp has answers to it
- It risks taking a chunk of damage if it stays in on Koko

I understand that during competitive play Pokemon are automatically set to level 50 and stats are adjusted as such. Doesn't this more or less ruin the entire synopsis of Pokemon? To raise and train your Pokemon to reflect your own play style and to make them how you want them to be? It seems like during competition your basically being handed a "Pre-generated" Pokemon that just happens to have the same moves and name as yours. Stats seem to be a highly important piece to the overall creation of your individual Pokemon and it seems like Auto Leveling kinda throws that all out the the window ... I dont know, just seems odd that its setup this way.

What I'm referring to though is when you compete in sanctioned "Play! Pokemon Tournaments and Championships" your Pokemons level is set to 50 during competition, along with stat changes to reflect that, and then changed back afterwards. So when you're competing, you're not actually keeping those stats cause they change to reflect your, now level 50, Pokemon.

Your level 50 Pokemon, with the same EVs and IVs as before. If you had 252 attack EVs, you keep them.
You still have to go through all the EV training, breeding and/or Hyper Training, which all affect stats, to get the most out of your Pokemon.

All that changes is that a level 60 'mon with a proper EV spread does just as much as a level 100 one that has the same spread.
That mechanic saves you from level grinding, but not from putting effort.putting into your mons or working on their stats.

Your level 50 Pokemon, with the same EVs and IVs as before. If you had 252 attack EVs, you keep them.
You still have to go through all the EV training, breeding and/or Hyper Training, which all affect stats, to get the most out of your Pokemon.

All that changes is that a level 60 'mon with a proper EV spread does just as much as a level 100 one that has the same spread.
That mechanic saves you from level grinding, but not from putting effort.putting into your mons or working on their stats.